Summary
Proboscis extension, the initial sequence of feeding behavior in the blowfly, Phormia regina, can be induced by sucrose stimulation of a single labellar sensillum. Exploiting the ability to record single unit sensory input from labellar sensilla and single unit motor output from the extensor of the haustellum, I have investigated the degree of control exerted by the sensory spike train from the sugar receptors on motor output. Extension of the proboscis can be triggered by temporal summation of sensory activity during a 20 millisecond period after the first sensory spike (Fig. 1, Tables 1, 2). The duration and number of muscle spikes per motor response are determined in part by the sensory frequency and duration of sensory input (Figs. 2, 3). Habituation of the motor response to repeated stimulation of a single sugar receptor occurs and is independent of activity in other sugar receptors (Fig. 4). A role for receptor adaptation and habituation at central synapses in determining the duration and number of spikes per motor response is postulated. Nonlinear summation between spatially separate sensory inputs was found and is discussed in terms of the findings from stimulation of single receptors. (Figs. 5, 6) A minimal neuronal model to account for motor activity in response to labellar sugar receptor activity is proposed (Fig. 7).
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This work was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in biophysics, University of California, Berkeley, California. I wish to thank Dr. Richard A. Steinhardt for his continual advice, guidance, ideas, and heartening encouragement in his role as thesis advisor. Funded in part by the following grants: a predoctoral training grant to P.A.G. USPHS grant No. 5-T01-GM00829, and Biomedical Science Support Grant and USPHS grant No. GM1021-08 to Dr. R. Steinhardt. Dr. C. H. F. Rowell, Dr. D. Bentley, and Dr. D. Kennedy kindly criticized the manuscript. I also thank my wife, Marna, for her help in the preparation of the manuscript.
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Getting, P.A. The sensory control of motor output in fly proboscis extension. Z. Vergl. Physiol. 74, 103–120 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00297793
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00297793